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Image of Asia: Weaving silk in Thailand

The Associated Press

Updated:
07/31/2014 08:43:53 AM EDT

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A Thai worker adjusts batches of dried silk thread after it was dyed in Bangkok on Thursday, July 31, 2014. A surge in silk yarn prices has attracted more silk farmers in the last two years, according to the Queen Sirikit Department of Sericulture. Most Thai silk is used in the domestic market but plans are afoot to increase production. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

In this trio of photos, workers weave Thai silk and adjust batches of dried thread at a decades-old workshop that supplies silk material to upmarket stores in Bangkok. Thailand's share of world silk production is relatively modest at less than 1,000 tons a year compared with leader China, with well over 100,000 tons annually. But Thailand is noted for its hand-woven silk products, which add value and serve a luxury market separate from commercial, low-price products. American entrepreneur Jim Thompson revived the country's traditional silk-weaving industry in the 1950s, overseeing the process from raising silkworms to retail sales and promoting silk as a high-fashion item around the world.